Flight Lieutenant Tony Snell, who has died aged 91, was shot down in his Spitfire over Sicily and escaped from a German firing squad. Recaptured, he leapt from a train and finally escaped over the Alps into neutral Switzerland.
On July 10 1943 Snell was patrolling over the beachhead after the Sicily landings when a force of Messerschmitt fighters attacked him. His Spitfire was hit and he had to make a forced landing on enemy territory. He managed to avoid capture and tried to return to the beachhead after dark, managing to convince a group of Italian soldiers that he was a Vichy Frenchman. Later he was challenged by a German patrol that ordered him to put his hands up. Without warning they rolled a hand grenade towards him but he managed to jump clear and run off, followed by more grenades.
He hid in scrub and realised that he was in a minefield, out of which he picked his way towards a track. There he blundered into a German airfield very near the battle area, and was captured. The Germans decided to execute him as a spy, marched him to an open space and ordered him to kneel down. Realising that he was about to be shot, he leapt up and ran off as the Germans fired. He was badly wounded, his right shoulder being smashed, but he managed to escape.
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Flight Lieutenant Tony Snell - Telegraph
On July 10 1943 Snell was patrolling over the beachhead after the Sicily landings when a force of Messerschmitt fighters attacked him. His Spitfire was hit and he had to make a forced landing on enemy territory. He managed to avoid capture and tried to return to the beachhead after dark, managing to convince a group of Italian soldiers that he was a Vichy Frenchman. Later he was challenged by a German patrol that ordered him to put his hands up. Without warning they rolled a hand grenade towards him but he managed to jump clear and run off, followed by more grenades.
He hid in scrub and realised that he was in a minefield, out of which he picked his way towards a track. There he blundered into a German airfield very near the battle area, and was captured. The Germans decided to execute him as a spy, marched him to an open space and ordered him to kneel down. Realising that he was about to be shot, he leapt up and ran off as the Germans fired. He was badly wounded, his right shoulder being smashed, but he managed to escape.
more
Flight Lieutenant Tony Snell - Telegraph
